Michael Bloomberg Surges in Polls and Qualifies for 2 Democratic Debates

A national poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist released Tuesday showed Bloomberg with 19% support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — his best result yet in a debate-qualifying poll, and good enough for second place behind Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who had 31%.

Later in the day, a national poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal showed Bloomberg at 14%: again behind Sanders (27%), and alongside former Vice President Joe Biden (15%) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (14%).

Bloomberg will face off Wednesday night against Biden, Sanders, Warren, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

The debate, which will air at 9 p.m. Eastern time, will be hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, Telemundo and The Nevada Independent.

The polls showed a substantial surge for Bloomberg, who received only 4% support in the last NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll in December, and 9% in the last NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll in January.

Bloomberg formally entered the race in November, nearly a year after most of the other candidates. He failed to make the cut for the past several debates in part because he is not accepting outside contributions for his campaign. But new rules announced by the Democratic National Committee opened the door to his participation, as they enabled candidates to qualify for the Las Vegas debate, as well as the one that will take place on Feb. 25 in Charleston, South Carolina, without meeting a donor threshold.

He is certain to face onstage criticism Wednesday night from his rivals, especially Sanders and Warren, the two candidates who are not appearing at private fundraisers and who have made targeting billionaires central to their campaigns.

Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, confirmed Tuesday that Bloomberg would take part in the next debate.

“Mike is looking forward to joining the other Democratic candidates onstage and making the case for why he’s the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and unite the country,” Sheekey said. “The opportunity to discuss his workable and achievable plans for the challenges facing this country is an important part of the campaign process.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .